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Nebraska hearing: Dentists and parents push for 12.5% Medicaid dental rate increase in LB 146
Summary
Dental providers, parents and dental-hygiene groups told the Appropriations Committee that a 12.5% Medicaid rate increase in LB 146 would expand access, citing 90 new dentists enrolled and fewer ED visits after last year’s increase; proponents said the change would reduce downstream medical costs and improve rural access.
A coalition of pediatric dentists, dental associations and parents urged the Nebraska Appropriations Committee to advance LB 146, a bill to raise Medicaid reimbursement for dental services by 12.5%. Witnesses said last year’s partial increase produced measurable access gains — and that another boost is needed to sustain and expand those gains.
Jessica Meeske, president of the Nebraska Dental Association and a practicing pediatric dentist, told the committee that after a July 1 rate increase last year 90 new dentists enrolled in the Medicaid program and roughly 16,000 additional patient visits occurred in six months. Meeske said the state saw about 500 fewer emergency-department visits for dental problems over that six-month period and presented an estimate of short-term ED cost savings, then annualized the figure to illustrate potential budgetary offsets from preventive care.
Parents and clinicians offered personal and practice-level evidence. Jade Doremus described repeated difficulty finding a dentist who would accept Medicaid near Hastings and recounted her young daughter’s tooth loss under general anesthesia as the result of delayed access. Lincoln pediatric dentists described long-standing workforce and cost pressures: Heidi Stark said her practice saw 10,752 Medicaid children last year (38 percent of her practice) and reported operating-cost increases since 2020; Ben Reimer said higher reimbursement helped young dentists decide to stay and practice in Nebraska.
Speakers emphasized that targeted Medicaid dental investment can lower more expensive medical spending. Scott Morrison and others linked better oral-care access to improved outcomes for people with chronic conditions and to lower downstream costs such as preterm-birth complications. Witnesses also described statewide collaboration among Nebraska’s three managed-care organizations as a factor that allowed the state to track some outcomes.
Committee staff recorded 48 proponents and one opponent for the record; no in-room opponents testified during the hearing. Testimony closed without a committee vote. Proponents urged lawmaker action to keep rural communities—where patients sometimes travel hours for care—connected to Medicaid-accepting dentists.
What happens next: The committee did not take a vote during the hearing. LB 146 will be subject to further committee action or scheduling by the Appropriations Committee.
